Land grab is insane, illegal

IN response to the letter by Maesele Maesele titled "We have to seize land that is ours".

IN response to the letter by Maesele Maesele titled "We have to seize land that is ours".

Has the writer forgotten what happened in Zimbabwe? Has the writer thought carefully about what that will do to our country's economy and its whole stability?

We fought so hard to be where we are today and by doing what Maeele is suggesting would be taking us 20 years back.

We understand the misery that ordinary South Africans are going through with regard to land reform.

The process in itself has been slow and people are getting impatient, but to take the matter in our own hands is insane and illegal.

Calls for South Africa's farmland, said to have been stolen by whites during the 1800s, to be redistributed to blacks without compensation are impractical.

Property rights are recognised in the country's Constitution and land acquisition has to be done according to rules.

The country can't just walk away from its Constitution, which says you will recognise property and you will recognise the cost of acquisition.

I personally recognise his plight and sympathise with other communities that are still to have their claims settled.

The Land Claims Commission is doing everything it can to settle all claims, but people need to understand that it may take time to effectively resolve all claims, especially the rural and complex claims as there are a lot of things to entangle.

People need to be calm and not act unlawfully as this will not produce positive results.

If people are unhappy about anything, they should their nearest Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to highlight their views so that things are resolved amicably. And if that does not work they can also use the presidential hotline that was launched last month.

Even if the land was given as a grant in the 1800s, as was the case in some instances, that land was then subdivided and sold to a number of people who have owned it since the 1800s.